The following project was done by my daughter Rubina, age 10, as part of
the Medieval Festival wherein students had to research and write about
a favorite person who influenced the Medieval period with help from her
teacher and parents. Rubina also created a tri-fold display board with
the help of her father, Gafoor, and sisters Jamila, age 11 (who won an
award last night at her school concert "Spirit and Pride of the Orchestra"
where she played the violin) and Alyssa, age 8 (Alyssa received a Math
Award from her school for scoring the highest points in her class and also,
she is very proud to have received a letter from President Clinton in response
to hers urging him not to bomb the innocent people in Iraq). They adorned
it with pictures of the Muslim
scientists and heroes, Muslim Architecture, Calligraphy, Objects including
the Tasbi which became very popular among the audience as she had two hanging
from her display. Rubina explained that these praying beads were used to
remember Allah at all times. She was dressed as a Muslim Princess and she
was a unique entry with a message of peace whilst many were dressed as
medieval warriors with swords and axes!

This project enhanced Rubina's self esteem and reinforced her pride in being
a Muslim. Many of the teachers and adults came up to her and would say:
Asalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of
Peace upon you). She had made posters and displays of religious Muslim
artifacts like the Tasbi - rosary. One of her calligraphy pieces said "Mashallah" in
Arabic a the spectator came and told her this. Even though, we used "Mashallah"
(what Allah has willed has come to pass), a lot in our family conversations, the
reinforcement from her school officials made her really happy as she was uneasy about
doing an unusual project for her school where not many students practiced her
faith in this affluent neighborhood in Houston. Plus she was surprised to find how
many Muslims there really were in the School who were remaining quiet about it!

I hope that more parents and teachers will take on this responsibility
and challenge and let our children feel pride from their wonderful heritage
and expose its wealth and beauty and present it at every occasion so that
it becomes normal just as the Christians and Jews express themselves.

A Prophet is a caring loving person who teaches people the right way to
live. I am going to tell you about a prophet in the medieval times. His
name was Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who brought the message of
Islam (peace) to the world. The people who follow Islam are called Muslims.

Early
Years

Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca, in the year 570 AD. Mecca is in Saudi
Arabia. His father, Hazrat Abdullah, died before Muhammad was born and
his mother, Amina, died when he was only six. So he became an orphan when
he was very young. His uncle, Hazrat Abu Talib took care of him until he
was old enough to take care of himself.

Prophet Muhammad married Lady Khadija in 595 AD who helped in spreading
the message of Islam. They had a daughter named Fatima who married the
Prophet’s cousin Hazrat Ali (son of Abu Talib). Lady Fatima was the only
surviving child of the Prophet and after he died his family carried on
the mission of the Prophet, followed by his grandchildren Hassan and Hussain.

History

Islam, one of the largest
religions of this world, has about one billion followers. That means 25% of the world’s
people are Muslims! Muhammad started preaching in Mecca in about 610 AD. He
made slow progress at first. Most of the rich and powerful citizens scorned
him and his preaching to follow one God, whereas they worshipped several
idols. His preaching angered the Meccans, and some even plotted to kill
him. In 622 Muhammad fled to the city of Medina, then called Yathrib, where
a group of people helped him. This emigration to Medina is called the Hijra
and this important event marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar. A
Hijra is a journey from one place to another. In this Hijra, Prophet Muhammad
marked the establishment of Islam. Ten years after the Hijra, Prophet Muhammad
died in 632 A.D.

Prophet
Muhammad’s Teachings

Prophet Muhammad preached that there is only one God and he, Muhammad is
the messenger of God. Muslim is an Arabic word for one that submits to
God and lives by God’s laws.

Prophet Muhammad was a very important man during medieval times in Asia.
He taught the people to change from worshipping idols to one God. He taught
them to respect their parents and elders. He taught about equal rights
and respect for women. He taught that the rich and poor are alike in the
sight of God and that their good deeds will help them meet God in heaven.
He taught them to live honestly and that working hard to earn a living
is also considered worship of God. God is called “Allah” in Arabic and
he taught people to remember God at all times.

Prophet
Muhammad’s Influence

His teachings brought about peace and prosperity to the Middle East and
all the lands ruled by the Muslims, which included Spain and Italy. During the medieval times, the great
prosperity was due to a large extent from the preaching of Prophet Muhammad
who said, “To obtain knowledge travel into China if necessary.” This made
the people travel great distances in order to learn more and there was
great trading and learning by meeting the people of India, China, Persia
and the West. This prosperity spread to Spain where the Muslims ruled for
700 years, and in fact, the majority of the sailors on the Columbus ships
were Muslims who had gained great experience from their travels and trading
with the lands of India, Africa and China.

In the medieval times, Muslims were great scholars and scientists and preserved
the work of the Greeks by translating them into Arabic. They used this
knowledge as well as knowledge of making paper from China, of mathematics
from India and they built the first University of the world in Egypt. This
University called Al Azhar University, which is still in existence, a thousand
years later.

In conclusion Prophet Muhammad’s teachings influenced not only the religious
and social life of the people, but also their scientific and economic life
and there was great prosperity brought about by following his instructions
that came from God. In the medieval period, the Muslims provided the bridge
of knowledge to the West who were experiencing the Dark Ages and by using
this wisdom, the Renaissance period began. The other good thing produced by the
Muslims was the beautiful architecture, art and calligraphy as Prophet
Muhammad taught that God loves beauty and the Muslims did everything beautifully
to please God.Calligraphy - Allah is Beautiful and loves everything
beautiful

Prophet
Muhammad’s Teachings

Prophet Muhammad preached that there is only one God
He taught the people to change from worshipping idols to one God.
He taught them to respect their parents and elders.
He taught about equal rights and respect for women.
He taught that the rich and poor are alike in the sight of God and that
their good deeds will help them meet God in heaven.
He taught them to live honestly and that working hard to earn a living
is also considered worship of God.
God is called “Allah” in Arabic and he taught people to remember God at
all times.

Prophet
Muhammad’s Influence

His teachings brought
about peace and prosperity to the Middle East and all the lands ruled by
the Muslims. During the medieval times, the great prosperity was due to
a large extent from the preaching of Prophet Muhammad who said, “To obtain
knowledge travel into China if necessary.”

This made the people
travel great distances in order to learn more and there was great trading
and learning by meeting the people of India, China, Persia and the West.
This prosperity spread to Spain where the Muslims ruled for 700 years,
and in fact, the majority of the sailors on the Columbus ships were Muslims
who had gained great experience from their travels and trading with the
lands of India, Africa and China.

Before Prophet Muhammad
started teaching about Islam, many Arabs did not know how to read. Prophet
Muhammad's teachings from the Quran began a great education of all the
people. Becoming a writer and a calligrapher was a great honor and Arabic
grammar was established with Hazrat Ali as the main advisor.

In the medieval times,
Muslims were great scholars and scientists and preserved the work of the
Greeks by translating them into Arabic. They used this knowledge as well
as knowledge of making paper from China, of mathematics from India and
they built the first University of the world in Egypt. This University
called Al Azhar University, which is still in existence, a thousand years
later.Architecture